Pax Terra: Our Only Salvation
by sara-what's-her-face
Summary: Complete rewrite. Book one. During DSII. When he discovers a member of the Third Kingdom has been resurrected, Death takes her along his journey in hopes that she would come in handy when it comes to restoring humanity. However, he didn't expect Corruption to be thrown into the mix. Rated M in some parts.
1. Prologue

**Our Only Salvation  
**

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**Prologue**

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To Quinn Bennett, it just seemed like another ordinary day: wake up, get ready, go to school and go home. And on that fateful cloudy mid-October morning, it precisely started out like that. But there was one tiny thing that was different in her routine.

"No." said Quinn's father.

"But Dad!" protested Quinn. "It's Kelly's birthday! I really wanna go!"

"I already gave you my answer: no. You are not going to that party on a school night, _especially_ when her parents aren't even going to be home."

"Come on! It's not like there's going to be any alcohol or anything like that."

"Even if there isn't, you're still not going," argued Quinn's father. "You're falling behind in school, Quinn! If you want to get into that college, you have to earn good grades."

Quinn groaned in frustration.

"Why are you so stubborn?!"

"And why are you so persistent about all this?!"

"They're my friends, Dad! I don't get to see 'em that often!"

"I don't care! You're not going! End of discussion!"

Quinn sighed. She grabbed her old, beaten up backpack and stormed out of the kitchen.

"God, I just _hate_ you sometimes!" she said, exasperated.

"Pick up your brother too on the way back!" said Quinn's father from the kitchen, which she could have sworn he also mumbled: "At least _he_ doesn't argue."

His words, though to himself, stung a little. She hated being compared to that eight year old goody-two-shoes Isaac. To her, he was just a little brat who only acted like a suck up to get more attention from his mother and her father. Sometimes, Quinn wished that he'd just disappear along with everyone else whenever people were starting to become a pain in the ass.

"He's not my brother..." Quinn whispered before opening the front door and walking out.

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Quinn couldn't help but notice the horrible traffic on the way to school. The streets were flooded with cars and the sidewalks were no different when it came to people. She knew Brooklyn was crowded, but she never expected to be _this_ crowded. She sighed. Getting to class was going to be a pain. While passing the people on the sidewalk, something caught her eye. It was a TV in the window of an electronics shop that was showing the news. And what they were reporting caught Quinn's eye. Not only were there meteors appearing all across the world, but they were ordering a city-wide evacuation. At first she thought it was a hoax and that it would all blow over.

And then it began; the one defining moment that would change her life forever.

A huge _boom_ echoed throughout the city, followed by a small earthquake that was powerful enough to make her and several other people lose their balance. As soon as it passed, Quinn quickly got back on her feet wondering along with everyone else what could have caused it.

First came the screaming... then the _roars_. And not your average animal roars either. They were otherworldly. Quinn's eyes widened when she saw a large pack of what looked like mutated wolves accompanied by ten foot tall behemoths with huge thick claws wrapped in armor and chains. Her breathing hastened as fear took hold of her. Quinn dropped her bag on the ground backing away slowly while the whole city block erupted into chaos. When some of the monsters started heading in her direction, she, along with many others, bolted in an attempt to escape.

She ran as fast as she could, passing by cars and people scrambling to get to safety. During the madness, Quinn felt an earthquake from another meteor crash which made her trip and fall flat on her face. She winced at the searing pain of her now-skinned knee but picked herself up and kept moving. She found an alleyway near by and hid there, with several random people, hoping to catch her breath. She was never the most athletic person in the world... and that alone put her at a disadvantage when it came to a crisis such as this.

From inside of the alley, she watched the scene unfold with horror. Winged people in golden armor also joined the fray and attacked the monsters. At first, Quinn was hopeful that they were there to save them. But after a moment of watching, it became apparent that they weren't, as they were more focused on killing the monsters than saving the humans. It didn't take long for the streets to be paved with blood from all three parties.

Quinn heard a loud _thump_ on the building next to them. She and the humans she was hiding with looked up to see one of the monsters looming over them, preparing to strike. They all screamed and ran out of the alley; although an unfortunate few were trapped inside when the beast jumped down and blocked their path. Thankfully for Alexis, she was not one of them.

However, her escape did not last long.

She felt a sudden harsh pain in her skinned knee and once more collided with the ground. She cried out and grabbed her knee... only to find an arrow sticking out of it. Quinn struggled to hold back her tears as she looked up and saw a couple of monsters with archery bows standing on cars and shooting arrows. Quinn moaned as she attempted to stand up despite her injured knee screaming and begging her not to do so. But one of the archers saw her and promptly shot an arrow into her hand, pinning her to the ground. Quinn screamed in agony. Both her hand and her knee felt as though they were burning as blood pooled out. The tears she tried to hold back finally broke through and poured down her face.

Quinn's remaining hand shakily moved to her injured one. She grabbed the arrow hoping that she could remove it, but it hurt too much to even tighten her grip around it. The next thing she knew, she lost all breath as she felt something being plunged into her back. Quinn knew not whether it was a blade or a bullet; all she knew was that it was sharp and excruciatingly painful beyond words. Bleeding from her mouth, she turned her head to find one of the monsters was standing over her with a sword stabbed into her back.

Without warning, a huge sword was rammed through the chest of the monster who stabbed her and was swung upwards, cleaving its head and chest in half. Once its body crumpled to the ground, Alexa saw a figure cloaked in armor and a crimson red hood approach her and pull out the sword protruding from her back. The air rushed into her fatal wound while the blood rushed out. She uttered a weak and pitiful moan.

After sheathing his blood stained sword, the hooded figure kneeled next to her. Quinn saw that this figure, a man, was... odd looking. His snow white hair and eyes appeared natural and there was a symbol of unknown origin embedded on his forehead. It didn't help that his clothes and armor weren't exactly what humans usually wore either. Quinn's main concern though, was if he was on the side of the monsters or the winged people. Though she was raised to not judge a book by its cover, she quickly concluded that the man was on no one's side, as he did not look like he was from either party.

Quinn's hearing was dulled as if her whole head was plunged underwater. Her eyelids grew heavy and it became harder to breathe. She was dying and she knew it. But she forced herself with all of her will to stay conscious in hopes that she would be able to escape this fate. It wasn't enough. She quickly found herself reaching out to the man, trying to say "Help me", only for the sentence to come out in unintelligible gasps. The man's expression remained the same throughout that encounter: icy and stern. Not once did he show a flicker of remorse in his eyes.

Her strength finally spent, her hand collapsed to the ground and she felt herself slip away. Quinn was terrified. She didn't want to die; there was so much she had not done with her life. She wanted to graduate from high school, go to college, get her dream career and maybe settle down with a family. But soon, Quinn could no longer could she feel pain, temperature, or even the hard ground beneath her. The last sensation she felt, was the man gently closing her eyelids.

She soon heard nothing.

Her breathing ceased and her heart shortly after.

She was dead.

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**Author's notes: I decided to completely rewrite this as, one, we know little about Strife aside from the info given from the novel, two, I find that planning with Death's story as the template was far easier than making things up as I go along. This is the last time I am deleting and re-uploading this fanfic.**

**Our Only Salvation (formerly Last Remnant) is a fanfic I've been planning for a year now. The reason I had not started it until now was because I wanted to wait until Darksiders: The Abomination Vault and Darksiders II came out to see and understand more of the Darksiders universe. I'm very excited to finally write this. Darksiders has been on my mind since the arrival of Darksiders II so I needed to get my thoughts out on the computer immediately. I hope you enjoy what is now here and what comes next.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

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"_...Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me._"

- Psalms 23:4

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The fields of the Forge Lands were void of any Corrupted beings as Death rode. But that didn't mean that the Reaper would drop his guard. The Corruption had across the world like a plague; who knew when it would strike next? But Death had more important situations to worry about; the most (if not, _only_) significant situation being his brother, War. Death was concerned about his possible fate. The Charred Council had accused him of triggering the apocalypse upon Earth, dooming mankind in the process. But Death knew for a fact, that War would never even think to do such a thing; out of all the Horsemen, he proved to have the most honor. The thought of him being responsible for such a feat was madness. Nevertheless, War's life hung in the balance for a crime he did not commit.

And Death would do anything to save him.

Alas, if he was to get to the Tree of Life to resurrect humanity, then he would have to help the Makers clear the way; which was blocked by Corruption. Along the way back to Tri-Stone, several small constructs dripping with an all too familiar black ooze rose up from the ground, blocking the Pale Rider's path. Death's steed, Despair, instantly skidded to a halt as if having been caught off guard. Death, however, didn't even so much as flinch.

"Huh," he said. "I was wondering when you'd make yourselves known."

The constructs charged forward to attack. In one swift motion, Death leapt off of Despair (dismissing him in the process), summoned his war-hammer and crushed the nearest construct beneath it. He then threw his weapon into the air, jumped up and did a back flip, not only kicking the second construct in the chin, but creating an opening for which he could strike. When Death had caught his weapon, it had transformed into a pair of scythes which he used to slice his enemy into thirds. The next construct attempted to attack from behind, but Death dodged it before its weapon could hit him. He swung one scythe and buried it deep between its sickly yellow eyes, black ooze spewing out from the wound. The last construct... well, killing that one didn't go exactly as Death had expected. It started with Dust flying from out of nowhere, cawing at his companion.

"Can't it wait, Dust?" asked Death.

Another caw.

"...What?"

Then a loud _crack_. And finally, a thin tree branch and... someone... fell on top of Death's last enemy. The Reaper didn't have time to investigate who or what they were as the construct rose in an instant, throwing the person off of it. It turned to the newcomer and raised its weapon to strike them. Death took the opportunity to change his scythes into a glaive, pierced the construct through the chest and threw it behind him. Death's burning orange eyes darted around the area, making sure that he didn't miss one. When the smoke settled, Death changed his weapon, Harvester, back into twin scythes and sheathed them. Dust flew to him and perched on his shoulder.

"There," said Death. "Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Dust looked behind him, with Death doing the same not a moment sooner. It was apparent that Dust was referring to the figure that fell from the tree. He walked up to them, planning to interrogate them on who they were and what they were doing in a tree in the first place. But upon getting a better look at the new arrival, Death instantly stopped in his tracks. Normally not one who was easily surprised, his brow rose behind his mask. She - the newcomer - was human. A rather young human at that; just barely reaching adulthood.

And she was gawking at him like she had seen a ghost.

"Impossible," whispered Death. "How are you alive?"

Like a small animal catching sight of its hunter, the girl panicked and tried to back away from him. Death held his hands up.

"Easy," he said. "I am not your enemy."

The girl suddenly lifted herself off of the ground and broke into a run. Death let a sigh escape him. He knew that he was intimidating to many, but it was only a few seconds and the girl was already frightened. And he just said he meant no harm too. Instead of running after her though, he held up his hands and began whispering ancient incantations behind his bone mask. Before the girl could get very far, three ghouls burst out of the ground and blocked her path (prompting a shriek from her in the process). They didn't attack her, as Death had ordered, but they made sure that no matter what direction she tried to run in, they would run up and stand in her way. Death lowered his arms and, once again, approached her.

"That is hardly the way you should treat someone for saving your life." he said.

The bewildered human spun around so fast that her medium brown hair (which was tied into a ponytail) almost slapped her in the face.

"What do you want?" asked the girl.

"Well, a word of gratitude, for starters." said Death.

She stared at him.

"I have no intention to harm you, human." Death said, not in a gentle tone, but rather a flat and stoic one.

The girl sighed in defeat.

"I must ask, however," Death continued. "How are you alive?"

"Uh, well," replied the human. "You... _did_ sort of slaughter those things, so..."

"No, I mean how have you survived all this time? The apocalypse should have claimed both you and your kind."

The girl slightly tilted her head to the side.

"Apocalypse? What're you talking about?"

Death blinked. How could she not know?

"...Do you not remember, then?" he asked.

"I, uh..."

A pause. Whatever excitement was trying to creep its way out of his words, Death forced it down.

'_Slow down,_' thought Death. '_One thing at a time._'

"Who are you, anyway?" asked the girl.

"I am Death."

"Death? Like the Grim Reaper?"

"...I have many names, but I don't think I've ever been called that one before."

The girl's eyes widened once more. She walked backwards, almost backing up against one of the ghouls.

"I... I'm not dead, am I?" she asked nervously.

"Let's see, you seem to be breathing normally, I sense that your soul is still pulsing in your body... Yes, you are dead."

It took her a moment, but from the way she pouted, the human seemed to pick up his sarcasm.

"That's not funny..."

"I wasn't intending to be as such."

It wasn't until then that Death had noticed that the sun was setting. He had no idea what Corruption was like at night, and with a young human around, he decided not to take any chances. Likewise, he decided that maybe - just _maybe_ - she could be useful. After all, she was a human... and she _was_ alive where she should have been slaughtered by the premature End War. Neither was she corrupted (as far as he knew, anyway). If Death could unlock the secret behind how she was resurrected... then perhaps he could perform that same action at the Tree of Life. The very thought of it fanned the flames of hope in his heart. Death dismissed his ghouls.

"You'll have to come with me." he said.

"What? Why?" asked the girl. "I barely even know you."

"On the contrary, human, you know _of_ me. I would say that's close enough."

"You can stop calling me 'human', you know. My name's Quinn, and, thanks for saving me, but I think I can take things from here."

Behind his mask, Death mouthed her true name in confusion. Quinn? _Quinn_? What kind name was Quinn? Did the humans simply run out of names to call their newborns before they died off? No matter. Before he could respond or even do anything, Quinn started walking off in the opposite direction of Tri-Stone towards the Cauldron.

"And just where do you think you're going?" asked Death.

"To the nearest town," replied Quinn. "I'm gonna see if I can get some answers from the townsfolk nearby. Maybe some tools, if they're nice enough."

'_...And she didn't bother to even ask me when I happen to be standing in front of her?_' thought Death. '_Not the sharpest blade. She's an ungrateful little brat as well, isn't she?_'

Death pointed behind himself.

"The nearest town happens to be that way."

Quinn stopped walking and looked at him.

"...Oh. Oh, right," said Quinn, adding an embarrassed chuckle. "I-I totally knew that. Yeah."

"I'm assuming you have not been here long." said Death.

"...No. I think I've only been for, I don't know, a couple hours maybe? Not sure how I got here either. I just kinda woke up and, _poof_, here I am."

Death could have sworn she muttered the words "I was stuck in a tree too..." under her breath.

"Were there others with you?" he asked.

"Uh, no. As far as I'm concerned, I'm all by myself." muttered Quinn.

"Hmm... Very well. All the more reason you should come with me."

"Hey, I can take care of-"

"Other than the fact that you have no armor or weapons to speak of, I know inexperience in combat and survival when I see it. It's in your eyes. You wouldn't last a day on your own."

Quinn frowned but Death chose to ignore this gesture of disapproval and whistled for Despair to make his appearance. A spectral whinny echoed through the forest as the beast made its appearance. Death lifted himself onto the saddle, moving a bit back to make room for the girl, and walked his mount to Quinn's side, offering a hand to her. The girl gave strange, if not, disturbed, glances to Death and Despair. Death sighed.

"I take it you've never ridden a horse before?" said Death.

"...This _thing_ is a horse?" asked Quinn.

Out of offense, Despair snorted and tried to bite at Quinn's face, making her jump and yelp. Death gently tugged on the reins.

"Easy, Despair," muttered Death, before looking back at Quinn and once again offering his hand. "Get on, human, we need to move."

She seemed reluctant at first, but Quinn reached up and grabbed it anyway. Death pulled her up onto the saddle, placing her in front of him. When she was secure, he flicked the reins and sent Despair into a gallop towards Tri-Stone.

'_She may be an ingrate,_' thought Death. '_But if I am to resurrect her kind and absolve War, then I suppose she will have to do... For now, anyway._'

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**Author's note: First, I'd like to apologize for the wait. I have been going through a lot of personal situations in my life right now and that has hindered my ability to concentrate on writing... well, anything really. Besides, as mentioned in the previous chapter, I am not a frequent updater. I hope this chapter makes up for that.**

**Second, I have changed my username from Rhapsody Duskbane to sara-what's-her-face.**

**I will be writing more chapters in the future, but _don't_ expect them to be finished, oh, let's say once a week. It takes me a while to plan out what I want for a scene and then how to put into legible sentences that don't confuse people or just sound awkward.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


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